Fishing tackle box

ABSTRACT

A fishing tackle box including a compartment having a wall structure in which top ledges are formed to receive the inverted ends of the fish hooks of freely suspended fishing lures. The top ledges may be formed of a soft material penetrable by the sharp ends of the fish hooks, such as a foamed plastic material; or an opening may be pre-formed in the ledge for receiving the end of each hook; or the wall structure may be thin enough for each hook to hang over the top edge of a wall. In the preferred form of the invention, the wall structure includes a plurality of spaced partition walls to form separate compartments for receiving the lures, and one form of the invention includes such wall structure in a cascade arrangement.

United States Patent [191 Maffett Dec. 25, 1973 1 FISHING TACKLE BOX[22] Filed: Oct. 20, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 299,314

[52] US. Cl. 43/54.5 R, 220/43 [51] Int. Cl A0lk 97/00 [58] Field ofSearch 43/54.5 R, 55, 57.5 R, 43/575 A; 220/43 [56] References CitedUNITED STATES PATENTS 3,047,349 7/1962 Powell 43/545 R 424,603 4/1890Favor 43/545 R 1,926,162 9/1933 Moberly 43/54.5 R 3,348,329 10/1967Seemann 43/545 R 3,156,063 ll/1964 Mace i i 43/545 R 3,410,018 11/1968Woolworth 43/54.5 R

Primary Examiner-Louis G. Mancene Assistant Examiner-Gregory E. McNeillAttorneyHarrington A. Lackey 5 7 ABSTRACT A fishing tackle box includinga compartment having a wall structure in which top ledges are formed toreceive the inverted ends of the fish hooks of freely suspended fishinglures. The top ledges may be formed of a soft material penetrable by thesharp ends of the fish hooks, such as a foamed plastic material; or an0pening may be pre-formed in the ledge for receiving the end of eachhook; or the wall structure may be thin enough for each hook to hangover the top edge of a wall.

In the preferred form of the invention, the wall structure includes aplurality of spaced partition walls to form separate compartments forreceiving the lures, and one form of the invention includes such wallstructure in a cascade arrangement.

3 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures All - PAIENTEDBEB25|975 3,780,468

SHEET 1 (IF 3 PATENTEU sum 2 or 3 3,780,468

(will w 'PATENTED HEBZ 51975 3. 7 8 O 468 sum 3 or 3 FISHING TACKLE BOXBACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a fishing tacklebox, and more particularly to a fishing tackle box having a compartmentespecially adapted for hanging fishing lures.

In conventional tackle boxes, either no accommodation has been made forthe reception of artificial fishing lures, or trays are provided forreceiving the lures extended horizontally.

Accordingly, in conventional fishing tackle boxes, the lures are noteasily found, are inaccessible, or become tangled with each other orother items in the tackle box.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is therefore an object of this invention toprovide a fishing tackle box having a compartment with unique wallstructure to provide an orderly arrangement of the artificial fishinglures.

More specifically, the fishing tackle box made in accordance with thisinvention includes one or more compartments or enclosures having wallstructure for supporting the lures by the connecting fish hooks ininverted positions. The wall structure is generally vertical having aninterior surface of greater height than the overall length of the lureand having a top ledge portion for receiving the barbed end of theinverted hook to suspend the lure against the interior surface of thewall structure. The wall structure is preferably partitioned to providean individual compartment for each lure.

In one form of the wall structure, at least the top ledge portion ismade of a soft mateial penetrable by the barbed end of the hook, such asa foamed plastic material, or cork.

In another form of the wall structure, the material may be foamedplastic, cork or even other types of materials which are not penetrableby the end of the book, but in which an opening has been pre-formed forreceiving the hook in inverted position.

In another form of the invention, the partition walls project from theinner surface of the main wall and terminate in top edges over which theinverted hook is hung. The top edges of these partition walls arepreferably notched or depressed so that the bight portion of the hookwill gravitate toward the lowest portion of the top edge to bettermaintain the lure in its hanging position.

In another form of wall structure, tiers of partitioned enclosure wallsare formed in a cascade arrangement to hold a greater number of lureswithin the same lateral dimensions of the compartment of a fishingtackle box.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an exploded frontperspective view of a pair of stacked fishing tackle boxes made inaccordance with this invention;

FIG. 2 is a front elevation of the tackle boxes disclosed in FIG. 1,with the upper box disclosed in phantom in assembled position;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged section taken along the line 3-3 of FIG. 1; of theassembled lower box;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged section taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view of a modified form ofwall structure for supporting artifical lures;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary sectional elevation of an assembled tackle boxmade in accordance with another modification of this invention; and

FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view of the tackle box illustrated inFIG. 6, with the cover removed.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring now to the drawingsin more detail, FIGS. 1 and 2 disclose a pair of identical tackle boxes1 and 2, the upper tackle box 2 being adapted to be mounted upon thelower tackle box 1. The lower tackle box 1 includes a rectangular shapedouter wall 3 separated by partition walls 4, 5 and 6 into a largecompartment 7 and three smaller compartments 8, 9 and 10. All of thecompartments have a common bottom wall 11.

Projecting outwardly from the bottoms of both sides of the wall 3 are apair of tongues or flanges 12.

Adapted to be inserted within the compartment 7 is a rectangular modularwall structure 14, preferably of polystyrene foam material, adapted toreceive artificial fishing lures.

Adapted to be received in the compartment 10 is a small rectangularmodular insert 15, also preferably made of polystyrene foam material.

Since the height of the partition walls 5 and 6 are less than the heightof the partition wall 4, an elongated space is provided spanning theentire width of the box 3 above the partition walls 5 and 6 forreceiving a plastic box 17 on the top edges of the partition walls 5 and6. The box 17 is adapted to hold any desired articles, such as theartificial worm lures 18.

A rectangular cover or lid 20 is mounted upon the outer wall 3 of box 1by means of flexible hinges 21. The opposite side of the lid may belatched by means ofa hasp 22. (FIG. 2).

A recessed handle 23 may also be provided on top of the lid 20, adaptedto be pivoted upright to an operative position, when desired.

A pair of elongated inwardly facing grooved tracks 24 may be formedalong opposite sides of the cover 20 for slidably receiving the bottomflanges 12 of the upper box 2, when it is desired to stack the boxes 1and 2. Box 2 is also provided with hinges 21', handle 23' and groovedtracks 24' with identical construction to their counter-parts in box 1.

The flanges 12 on the bottom box 1 may be slidably received in opposedchannel tracks 25, which may be fixed to the boat seat or some otherportion of the boat by means, not shown.

Referring now more particularly to the modular wall structure 14 ofFIGS. 1, 3 and 4, the entire structure 14 is preferably molded frompolystyrene foam into the disclosed shape, and includes two side walls27 and 28, and two end walls 29 and 30. As best disclosed in FIGS. 1 and4, the side wall 27 is formed in three cascading vertical sections,including a lower wall section 31, an intermediate wall section 32 andan upper wall section 33.

Formed along the interior face of the lower wall section 31 are aplurality of longitudinally spaced vertical partition walls 35 formingbetween them the lure channels or grooves 36. The upper portion of thelower wall section 31 terminates in a flat horizontal ledge 37.

Spaced laterally outwardly from and above the lower wall section 31 isthe intermediate wall section 32. The bottom of the intermediate wallsection 32 also terminates in the ledge 37, The inner facial surface ofthe intermediate wall section 32 is likewise provided with spacedpartitions 35 and lure chambers 36, constructed in the same manner asthose in the lower wall section 31. The upper end of the intermediatewall section 32 terminates in another upper ledge 38, which forms thefloor or bottom of the upper wall section 33. In the same manner, theupper section 33 is spaced outwardly from and above the intermediatesection 32, and the inner face of the upper section 33 is also providedwith the similarly constructed partitions 35 and lure channels 36.

The side wall 28 has substantially the same three-tier cascadingstructure as the wall 27.

Each end wall 29 and 30 has the same lower wall section construction 31as the side wall 27, which actually forms a continuation thereof aroundthe periphery of the modular insert 14. However, the walls 29 and 30have no intermediate sections corresponding to the intermediate section32, and therefore no ledge 38, although the ledge 37 continues aroundall four of the inner faces of the walls 27, 28, 29 and 30.

The upper wall sections 40 of the end walls 29 and 30 extend from theledge 37 upward to the top of the modular insert 14, or, in other words,they extend the combined height of the intermediate and upper wallsections 32 and 33. The wall sections 40 also include partitions 41 andextra long lure channels 42.

As illustrated in FIGS. 1, 3 and 4, lures such as 44 (FIG. 4) have theirfish hooks 45 inverted with a barbed end inserted into the lower ledge37, by virtue of the hook point penetrating the soft foam material. Thehook 45 penetrates the ledge 37 in such a position that the body of lure44 hanges freely within the corresponding lure channel 36, where it iseasily retained within the compartment 7 of the box 1, regardless of themovement or jostling of the box 1, until the hook 45 is positivelyremoved from the ledge 37.

In a similar manner, the long lure 46 is held in an elongated lurechannel 42, by appropriately inserting the fish book 47 within the topsurface of the wall 29.

Also as best disclosed in FIG. 4, the height of the respective sections31, 32 and 33 may be different from the opposed sections in the oppositewall 28, to accommodate lures of different lengths.

The insert 14 is readily removed from the compartment 7 to facilitatereplacement or substitution of lures in the various compartments of thevarious lure channels 36 and 42, or for complete replacement by anothermodular insert 14. As a matter of fact, several modular inserts 14 maybe provided to support different groups of lures, so that the entiremodular insert with its group of lures may be substituted for any othermodular insert with its group of lures in the compartment 7.

Insert is similar to insert 14, with the exception that it is smallerand is not provided with any partition wall such as 35 or 41. Asillustrated in FIG. 3, the lures 49 are small flies having hooks forinsertions in the corresponding cascading ledges 50, 51 and the top flatedge of the module 15. Because of the lightness of the flies 49partitions are not as necessary as they are for the longer and heavierlure bodies 44 and 46.

FIG. 5 discloses a fragment of a modified modular insert 54, also madefrom a plastic foam, such as polystyrene foam. The modular insert 54 isprovided with an upper wall section 55 and a next lower wall section 56having lure channels 57 formed by partitions 58. The

wall sections 55 and 56 are cascaded to form the intermediate ledge 60.Both the ledge 60 and the top edge of the wall section 55 are providedwith pre-formed slots or grooves 62 for receiving the end of the hook 63of a lure body 64. The slots 62 are preferably inclined to the plane ofthe wall sections 55 and 56 to provide a binding action between the hook63 and the inner surfaces of the corresponding slot 62.

In the modification disclosed in FIGS. 6 and 7, the tackle box alsoincludes a rectangular outer wall enclosure 71 having a bottom wall 72,median partition wall 73 and shorter partition walls 74 and 75 to formcompartments 76, 77, 78 and 79.

In order to support lure bodies 80 in compartment 76, the plurality ofvertical, relatively thin, partition walls 82 are fixed to, and projectinward at substantially right angles to, the respective portions of theouter walls 71. As best illustrated in FIG. 6, the top edge 83 of eachpartition wall 84 converges downward toward the middle from its endedges to form the depressed valley or notch 84. Thus when the hook 85 ofthe lure body 80 is hung over the top edge 83 it gravitates toward thelowest portion of the valley 84 for stability in hanging from apredetermined position. As illustrated in FIG. 7, corner separator walls82' may merge.

Also adapted to fit within the compartment 76 is a modular receptacle 86having a lower rectangular body 87 and an outwardly projecting upperbody 88. The lower body 87 is adapted to fit within the space betweenthe inner edges of the separator walls 82, while the projectinghorizontal bottom surface of the upper body 88 is adapted to seat uponthe top edges 83 of the separator walls 82, thereby holding the fishhooks 85 in place in their respective valleys 84.

The lower body 87 may be hollow, and may also be provided with separatorpanels 90 identical in construction to the separator panels 82 for thesupport of additional lures, such as 92. The upper edges 93 ofpartitions-90 may terminate at the upper plane of the lower body 87 toprovide a space for receiving a plastic box 94, having a lid 95. Theupper body 88 may also be provided with elongated compartments ortroughs 96 and 97 for receiving other articles of fishing tackle.

The height of the partition walls 74 and 75 are shorter than the heightof the partition wall 73 so that a box, such as plastic box 17, can bereceived on top of the walls 74 and 75, in ,the same manner asillustrated in FIG. 1. With the modular receptacle 86 and plastic box 94seated in their above described positions, the entire box 71 may beclosed by the lid or cover 100.

What is claimed is:

l. A fishing tackle box comprising:

a. an elongated, vertical wall having an inner surface,

b. a plurality of upright partition walls projecting inward from saidinner surface, said partition walls having top edges,

0. said partition walls being longitudinally spaced apart sufficientlyto receive between adjacent partition walls an artificial fishing lurehaving an inverted hook hanging over a top edge of one of said partitionwalls, to suspend said lure in a hanging position, each of said topedges having a middle portion and end portions, and at least the endportions of said top edges lying in a horizontal seating plane, but noneof said portions projecting above said horizontal seating plane,

said seating plane to form a valley for receiving the inverted hook of alure.

3. The invention according to claim 1 in which said elongated bodycomprises a bottom wall portion of a receptacle within said box.

1. A fishing tackle box comprising: a. an elongated, vertical wallhaving an inner surface, b. a plurality of upright partition wallsprojecting inward from said inner surface, said partition walls havingtop edges, c. said partition walls being longitudinally spaced apartsufficiently to receive between adjacent partition walls an artificialfishing lure having an inverted hook hanging over a top edge of one ofsaid partition walls, to suspend said lure in a hanging position, d.each of said top edges having a middle portion and end portions, and atleast the end portions of said top edges lying in a horizontal seatingplane, but none of said portions projecting above said horizontalseating plane, e. an elongated body having a horizontal exterior bottomseating surface adapted to engage said top edges in said seating planeto hold the inverted hooks of lures in place between said bottom seatingsurface and said top edges.
 2. The invention according to claim 1 inwhich said middle portion of at least one of said top edges is belowsaid seating plane to form a valley for receiving the inverted hook of alure.
 3. The invention according to claim 1 in which said elongated bodycomprises a bottom wall portion of a receptacle within said box.